Okay my thinking on this is that a person could build a machine tocarve waxes or metal. The necessary robot arms and servos are less than$1000 complete with the computer program.

Well, you could , provided you're a good machinist, electronics tech &programmer.You'd also need the tools those crafts & the job indicate.

To build a machine that would produce an acceptable product would take quitesometime.By the time you'd have gotten the necessary tools & skills to build a machine,you probablycould have bought a top of the line model with all the bells & whistles.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be lots of fun (I'm a tool dsgnr/mfgr also). Butsometimes you have to decide what game you want to play & forget about the rest.

To build a machine that would produce an acceptable product would take quite
sometime.
sometimes you have
to decide what game you want to play & forget about the rest.

Ever soldered silver on a campfire? It is one way things get done and
in some parts of the world it is still possible to find very nice
jewelry fabricated with soldering done on an open fire.What I had
envisioned was a simple affordable system that even beginners could use
in small shops.Sort of a campfire approach as opposed to the hydrogen
oxygen torch...I see something made of three threaded stainless steel
rods turned by a three small electric motors (like the ones that are in
a VCR perhaps) with each coupled to a simple rheostat and a then a
simple network server and then the computer.The three fine threaded rods
would drive a carriage assembly riding on smooth rods with the flexshaft
handpiece or similar mounted on it along x y and z axis. Mounted in the
handpiece is a wax burr and in a central spot a chunk of carving wax.The
burr would be set against the wax and the computer part should not be
difficult to someone who is Cad Cam literate.It would be a prototype you
understand.Since the items to be carved are small the machine should not
be too difficult to make again I remind you as a prototype.I mean it is
not as though we were casting and machining crankshafts and cams for a
12 cyl.Jag....since wax is soft the small motors should be able to drive
the thing...Gavin.

By the way, there is now available an inexpensive three axis mill (less
than $4000) that comes with cad/cam software AND the unmentioned and
complicated *controller*, the device that translates the code sent to
the machine into the instructions that turn the motors on and off at the
proper times etc...

I'll have to search through my mountain of mailings to find the source,
I remember it was developed at a university on the east coast.

David D. Arens wrote:

Gavin said:

Okay my thinking on this is that a person could build a machine to
carve waxes or metal. The necessary robot arms and servos are less than
$1000 complete with the computer program.

Well, you could , provided you're a good machinist, electronics tech &
programmer.
You'd also need the tools those crafts & the job indicate.

To build a machine that would produce an acceptable product would take quite
sometime.
By the time you'd have gotten the necessary tools & skills to build a machine,
you probably
could have bought a top of the line model with all the bells & whistles.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be lots of fun (I'm a tool dsgnr/mfgr also). But
sometimes you have
to decide what game you want to play & forget about the rest.

By the way, there is now available an inexpensive three axis mill (less
than $4000) that comes with cad/cam software AND the unmentioned and
complicated *controller*, the device that translates the code sent to
the machine into the instructions that turn the motors on and off at the
proper times etc...
I'll have to search through my mountain of mailings to find the source,
I remember it was developed at a university on the east coast.

David D. Arens wrote:

Gavin said:

Okay my thinking on this is that a person could build a machine to
carve waxes or metal. The necessary robot arms and servos are less than
$1000 complete with the computer program.

Well, you could , provided you're a good machinist, electronics tech &
programmer.
You'd also need the tools those crafts & the job indicate.

To build a machine that would produce an acceptable product would take quite
sometime.
By the time you'd have gotten the necessary tools & skills to build a machine,
you probably
could have bought a top of the line model with all the bells & whistles.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be lots of fun (I'm a tool dsgnr/mfgr also). But
sometimes you have
to decide what game you want to play & forget about the rest.

Jeff,
I have no doubt that small wax milling machines driven by computer
will be economical and common within the next five years or so.Hopefully
like memory it will get less expensive as technology advances in the
field.I have decided to ride it out and wait but in the meantime I want
stay tuned in to what is going on with computerized model making...Since
I do not run the retail end of a business I have time to learn all I can
so that helps.I need to start in studying Cad Cam but wonder if
something else will not soon be available to make Cad Cam obsolete?
Gavin

Zerox has a machine that produces a solid polymer(platic??) result from a
cad drawing .. . . saw a demo couple of years ago ... item was about the
size of a football _,+....

Let's don't discuss the price!!
jim

At 01:16 AM 10/15/96 -0500, you wrote:

Jeffrey Everett wrote:

By the way, there is now available an inexpensive three axis mill (less
than $4000) that comes with cad/cam software AND the unmentioned and
complicated *controller*, the device that translates the code sent to
the machine into the instructions that turn the motors on and off at the
proper times etc...
I'll have to search through my mountain of mailings to find the source,
I remember it was developed at a university on the east coast.

David D. Arens wrote:

Gavin said:

Okay my thinking on this is that a person could build a machine to
carve waxes or metal. The necessary robot arms and servos are less than
$1000 complete with the computer program.

Well, you could , provided you're a good machinist, electronics tech &
programmer.
You'd also need the tools those crafts & the job indicate.

To build a machine that would produce an acceptable product would take

sometime.
By the time you'd have gotten the necessary tools & skills to build a

you probably
could have bought a top of the line model with all the bells & whistles.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be lots of fun (I'm a tool dsgnr/mfgr also). But
sometimes you have
to decide what game you want to play & forget about the rest.

Zerox has a machine that produces a solid polymer(platic??) result from a
cad drawing .. . . saw a demo couple of years ago ... item was about the
size of a football

Let's don't discuss the price!!
jim

There are several (rapid prototyping) machines on the market now,
producing patterns utilizing several different technologies. The only
one that interests me, and that is useful to jewelers is the Sanders
Model Maker. $55,000. I've described it before, if you want info, let me
know... :)